Murphy's Law
by Tweeter
Summary: Gibbs is accused of murdering a suspect and Tony is caught in the fallout. CHAPTER EIGHT IS UP! COMPLETE! Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: In this story, Kate is alive. Essentially, it's pre-Twilight, since I accept the changes that have been made in the show… so far. Time will tell how I feel about the new characters. Also, more information about the Murphy case will follow, but I didn't think it would be necessary to recap it to the characters, they already know what it is so it would be too much exposition at this point. All will come out, rest assured. Many thanks to my patient beta, **Rinne**, who has cleaned up the punctuation even though I can never remember her tips._

**Murphy's Law - by Tweeter**

**Chapter One**

His head was pounding and there was a fireworks display going on behind his closed eyelids. Even the slightest movement set off another burst. Taking a shallow, shaky breath, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs slowly opened one eye, then the other. A figure moved into his line of sight, blurry and shadowy.

"Hello Jethro," said the blur. 'How are you feeling, my friend?"

"Where am I?" croaked Gibbs, his throat dry and scratchy.

Doctor Mallard poured a cup of water from a the pitcher on the bedside tray and handed it to Gibbs. "You're in hospital, it appears you were in some sort of fight. You've got a severe concussion, some internal bleeding and a broken leg."

Gibbs went to feel his head but found he couldn't raise his right hand, it was handcuffed to the railing.

"What the hell is this?"

"Now, Jethro, please try to stay calm," soothed Ducky.

"Calm? Why am I handcuffed to the bed?"

"Do you remember anything at all, Jethro?"

"No! Ducky, why am I cuffed? What's going on?"

Ducky tried to calm his old friend. "Murphy's been found murdered. He's been stabbed and they found your prints on the knife."

"That's crazy," sputtered Gibbs.

"I know, Jethro, but you were very irate about his acquittal, the police are certain it was you."

Gibbs started coughing, but he continued to fume. "Well, they're wrong. Where's Tony? Kate? What do they say? Get them in here!"

"There's more, Jethro. Tony's in ICU."

Gibbs' face paled. "ICU? Was he there? Did he see what happened? Is he going to be okay?"

"Please, Jethro." Ducky looked worriedly at the monitor tracking Gibbs' heart rate and blood pressure. "If I tell you what they believed happened, will you promise to stay calm?"

"DUCKY!"

"All right! The police believe, and the evidence backs their theory, that you got very drunk after Murphy's trial and decided to confront him, that you went to his house, barged in and started a fight with him. They think Tony knew what you might do and followed you. He heard you fighting with Murphy and tried to stop the two of you. During the course of the confrontation, you stabbed Murphy, then, in a drunken rage, you turned on Tony. He was beaten badly and stabbed multiple times."

"How seriously is Tony injured?" whispered Gibbs.

"It's very serious, I'm afraid. He's lost a great deal of blood. He was stabbed in the torso; his left lung was punctured, as was his spleen. His liver was also damaged. They had to remove the spleen, and luckily, they were able to repair the liver. He's in a coma, on a respirator. They're not sure if he's going to make it."

Gibbs closed his eyes in pain. Not Tony. Please, don't let Tony die. He remembered his last words to Tony had been cruel and cutting.

"I would never hurt Tony like that," he whispered. "No amount of alcohol would make me try to kill him."

"I know, Jethro," replied Ducky soothingly, "but our team has been forbidden from having anything to do with the case. Paula Cassidy and Cassie Yates have been brought in to investigate, as well as another forensic specialist. Of course the rest of us aren't sitting back twiddling our thumbs. Kate and McGee are going over Murphy's case with a fine-tooth comb, and Abby is re-running tests on the evidence."

"I need to see Tony."

Frowning to himself, Ducky replied, "I don't know, Jethro, you're accused of trying to kill him. I'm not sure if they'll let you up there, or if they'll even let us take the handcuffs off."

"Please, Ducky." Gibbs' eyes were desperate, he had to see the younger agent, to see for himself how badly he'd been injured, and if those injuries were caused by himself.

"I'll see what we can do." Ducky rose from his chair. "You just lie back and try to get some rest.".

Gibbs didn't say anything, he just lay there with his eyes closed, thinking back to the last time he remembered talking to Tony. It wasn't pretty.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: In this story, Kate is alive. Essentially, it's pre-Twilight, since I accept the changes that have been made in the show… so far. Time will tell how I feel about the new characters_. _Many thanks to my patient beta, **Rinne**, who has cleaned up the punctuation even though I can never remember her tips. Thank you for the reviews, much appreciated._

**NCIS headquarters - 1 week earlier**

The elevator doors opened and Gibbs came storming off it, blowing into the squad room like a typhoon.

Tony and Kate looked across at each other and then shrank down into their seats, unwilling to attract the ire of their obviously pissed-off boss. McGee had not been with the team very long and didn't know to leave well enough alone.

"How'd the trial go, Boss?" he asked innocently.

Gibbs fixed him with a look that could freeze fire. McGee gulped and stammered, "I … I… mean… um…" He looked over at Tony and Kate, who ducked their heads and suddenly found something very interesting on their computer screens.

Gibbs turned and stalked off, presumably to get some coffee.

"What did I say?" asked McGee, confused at the response of the older agent.

"Probie," drawled Tony, sitting back and putting his hands behind his head, "when Gibbs comes in looking like somebody set fire to his boat, you just do everything you can to stay off his radar."

Kate chimed in, "Yeah, and if he doesn't have his coffee with him, you pray that the coffee shop is open and they don't have some trainee at the counter, or blood may possibly be spilled."

"Word from the courthouse is, Murphy was acquitted, which explains the big guy's mood," Tony relayed to the other agents.

Kate shook her head. "Gibbs is going to be hard to live with, he was positive that the husband was guilty."

Tony said, "Yeah, but you know, sometimes even Gibbs can make a mistake."

_Two months prior_

_The team had been called to the home of Petty Officer Leslie Murphy, a 27-year old computer specialist, who had been found by her husband, strangled. Roger Murphy was a civilian, 32-years old, and owner of a local gym, or "health club."_

_The club had been experiencing financial trouble lately, and when Gibbs found out that Roger Murphy had been having an affair with a 22-year old yoga instructor at his establishment, he surmised that the husband had killed his wife for the insurance to save his business and free himself to be with his young mistress._

But the jury didn't agree with Special Agent Gibbs, and didn't feel the circumstantial evidence was enough to convict Murphy beyond a reasonable doubt. Even Gibbs' professional and intense testimony didn't convince them, and they moved to acquit.

Kate said, "You know he's not going to leave it lie. He's going to look for more evidence until he proves he's right."

"Yeah, but he can't do anything about it, Kate. Double jeopardy." Tony leaned back further in his chair and grinned at his partner.

Gibbs strode back into the squad room, coffee in one hand, a file in the other, which he tossed onto Tony's desk.

"DiNozzo, get off your butt and look for anything that can break Murphy's alibi," he barked. "Start by going over the mistress' interview again."

"Come on, boss," Tony protested. "We had her in the interrogation room for 6 hours. You went after her, I went after her and Kate went after her. There's nothing in her testimony that can be shaken."

Gibbs' voice was like ice, "Look. Again."

"To what end, boss?" argued Tony. "Murphy's been acquitted. There's a little something called 'double jeopardy' in civilian law. Even if we find a set of prints on his wife's throat he's already been tried for her murder, and the jury let him go. He can't be tried again."

Gibbs slammed his chair back as he stood to face his agent. "Do you have a problem following orders, DiNozzo?"

Tony didn't back down. "No, not usually, but this is a waste of time, Boss. We've gone over and over the evidence, we've scoured the scene, and we found nothing concrete and incontrovertible to place Murphy at the scene at the time of the murder."

"He killed his wife, and we're going to prove it," growled Gibbs.

"Why do you say that?" Tony's voice was challenging. "Is your gut telling you that? Why didn't you insist the DA wait until we had hard proof before taking this to trial?"

"Tony." Kate's voice was strained as she tried to stop her partner from getting himself fired.

Tony ignored the warning in her voice. "Maybe you were wrong, Boss. Maybe we should be looking for another suspect. Maybe you made a mistake."

Gibbs walked over to Tony, stepping right up to the younger agent and getting into his personal space. "Yes, maybe I _did_ make a mistake."

Tony looked as if he had been slapped. He pushed his chair back slowly and stood up, his expression hurt. Without a word, he turned and picked up his pack and walked out of the squad room.

Kate and McGee sat, shocked at what had just happened.

Gibbs looked at both of them, daring them to challenge him, then left the squad room.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: In this story, Kate is alive. Essentially, it's pre-Twilight, since I accept the changes that have been made in the show… so far. Time will tell how I feel about the new characters. Many thanks to Rinne, for fixing the punctuation and giving me suggestions when the action wasn't clear_.

**Present day**

Doctor "Ducky" Mallard pushed the wheelchair of his good friend and boss, followed closely by an armed security guard. Despite the fact that Gibbs had a broken leg and still couldn't sit up for long, the police had insisted that he be watched closely while he was uncuffed.

Gibbs didn't complain, grateful that they had allowed him to see Tony. He kept his tongue, though silently willing the older gentlemen to walk a bit more quickly. At the entrance to the ICU they were met by Kate Todd. She had been staying with her partner while he lay in a coma, reading and talking to him in an effort to draw him back to the conscious world.

"Hey, Gibbs," she greeted somberly. "I just wanted to warn you that Tony doesn't look very good."

Gibbs nodded. "Do they still think he might not make it?"

Kate nodded, her eyes filling with tears.

Ducky wheeled Gibbs into the private room. Gibbs steeled himself, but was still shocked by what he saw. Tony, eerily still, was almost unrecognizable. His face had been beaten badly, both eyes were swollen shut, the right side of his jaw bruised and cut up. An airway was taped in place, not quite obscuring the cut lip. Numerous electronic leads disappeared under the blanket, bags of saline and blood were being pumped into two IV sites. The beeping of the monitor and the whooshing of the respirator seemed deafening.

"My god," breathed Gibbs. "Tony…"

Ducky pushed the wheelchair to the side of the bed. "Talk to him Jethro," he murmured. "I'm sure he'd be happy to hear your voice."

"I don't think so." Gibbs sounded distraught, but he reached out and took one of Tony's hands in his, careful not to disturb the IV needle.

"Hey, DiNozzo," he whispered, suddenly at a loss for words. Kate and Ducky moved discreetly back a few steps, the guard remained at the doorway.

Clearing his throat, Gibbs forced himself to look at Tony's battered face. "You know, there are easier ways of trying to prove I'm wrong. You shouldn't go rushing off somewhere without backup. I guess you weren't expecting me to do something like this to you, no matter how angry I was."

Sighing, he stroked the back of Tony's hand absently. "I don't remember anything about that night, but I know I couldn't have done this to you. I said something I shouldn't have , something I really didn't mean. I've never been sorry I brought you on to the team. You're the best agent I've had the honor to work with, and I'm proud to have you as my senior field agent. I know I don't tell you that often enough, but you know what the second 'b' is for."

Gibbs was starting to feel the strain of being out of bed, but he didn't want to leave the stricken agent's bedside. Ducky noticed the sheen of perspiration that had formed on the senior agent's face and moved forward.

"You should go back to your room now, Jethro," he murmured. "You can come back tomorrow for a little while."

Staring disconsolately at Tony's face, Gibbs voice cracked, "What if he doesn't make it to tomorrow?"

Pushing him out of the room Ducky replied firmly, "We're not even going to consider that. Anthony is a strong, healthy young man, despite his diet. He's as stubborn as you are, Jethro, he's not going to give up so easily, especially since he knows what really happened. He wouldn't let you down."

Gibbs closed his eyes in pain, knowing that Ducky was right about Tony's loyalty, and remembered the last hurtful remark he had made to him.

As they left Tony's room, Kate stopped Ducky and said, "Ducky, I need you to explain some of the medical information they gave me on Tony, could you stay here for a few minutes."

Ducky looked down at Gibbs, who was lost in his guilty thoughts and didn't notice anything. "I'm sure the guard will get Gibbs back to his room safely," he agreed.

"Jethro, the guard will return you to your room, I need to speak to Kate for a few minutes." He shook his head sadly as Gibbs barely acknowledged his words. The guard moved behind the chair and wheeled it out of the ward.

Kate and Ducky moved down the hall to discuss Tony's condition, speaking in hushed tones, Kate's expression worried, her voice shaky. Fifteen minutes later an alarm sounded. Kate looked up to see the nurse at the nursing station pick up a phone and say, "Code blue, ICU - Room E."

"Room E? That's Tony's room!" Kate and Ducky rushed back to find the room abuzz with activity.

Someone had pulled the pillow from under Tony's head and lowered the head of the bed so he was lying flat. The respirator had been disconnected and replaced with a hand respirator, a board had been placed under his back.

Kelly, the charge nurse, was compressing Tony's chest while another nurse pumped air into his lungs after every five compressions. The EKG hadn't gone flat, but was showing erratic rhythm, blaring loudly.

Doctor Bradley rushed in, followed by another nurse. "What the hell happened?"

"I don't know," answered Kelly. "He was stable half an hour ago, then his heart started throwing off PVC's.

Blood was drawn and sent down to the lab, marked STAT. The doctor took out his penlight and checked Tony's eyes. "Pupils are still equal and reactive," he reported. "Get me 1 mg of Lidocaine, and 30 mgs of Amiodarone."

Bradley took over the compressions to relieve the tired nurse.

"Charge to 200," he ordered, halting the compressions when the charged paddles were handed to him. Placing one paddle in the middle of Tony's chest, and the other to the side, he yelled, "Clear!"

Removing the respirator the second nurse moved back. Bradley released the 200 volts of electricity into Tony's chest.

Kate put her hand over her mouth to stifle her scream, her eyes filled with tears as she watched Tony's body jerk in response to the shock.

Anxiously watching the monitor and seeing no change, Bradley ordered the paddles to be charged again and repeated the procedure. There was still no response. Swearing softly to himself, the doctor took the syringe of Lidocaine that had been brought up and administered it through the IV.

Resuming compressions he yelled, "Where are those test results?"

Kelly got off the phone and reported, "Doctor, his potassium level is 7.2."

"What? How the hell did that happen? Get that IV out of there, get me a fresh bag of saline, some dextrose and 15 mgs of insulin, STAT!"

"What's going on?" Kate asked Ducky worriedly.

"Tony has a dangerous amount of potassium in his system. Too much potassium can cause the heart to shut down," he whispered.

"How could that happen?"

"In a relatively healthy person like Tony, it would have to be administered," replied Ducky grimly.

"Someone tried to kill him?"

"Someone tried to kill him _again_," corrected the ME, "and may have succeeded this time, if they can't reverse the effects." The two watched anxiously as the dextrose and insulin were brought up and administered.

Pausing in his compressions, Bradley watched the monitor intently. After a few tense moments the monitor indicated the heart had resumed a normal rhythm. Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief, visibly relaxing.

Kate stepped forward as a nurse started to pick up the discarded bag of saline. "Don't touch that, that's evidence. I want it checked for prints and I want everyone who's had access to this room to be fingerprinted. There are security cameras here, aren't there?"

Kelly answered, "Just in the corridor and at the nurse's station."

"I need to get copies of those tapes. I want to know everyone who has had access to this room in the last few hours. I want a guard put on this room, no one goes in without clearance. Ducky, can you stay with him to make sure no one tries to inject him with anything else?"

"Yes, of course, but Kate, you can't do this, it's not our case," Ducky objected.

"It is now, I'm taking over," she replied firmly. "This is proof Gibbs was framed. Tony is the only witness, someone doesn't want him waking up and telling us who stabbed Murphy and him. I'll go to Director Morrow and tell him everything, then get McGee and Abby working on this."

Ducky put a hand on her shoulder. "You should tell Jethro, he needs to know about this."

"I will, as soon as I talk to Morrow and get the team started. I'll need to talk to Paula and Cassie too, see what they've got."

Giving Ducky a determined smile, Kate turned and left the room to find the person or persons who tried to kill her partner and frame her boss.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: In this story, Kate is alive. Essentially, it's pre-Twilight, since I accept the changes that have been made in the show… so far. Time will tell how I feel about the new characters. Many thanks to **Rinne**, for fixing the punctuation and giving me suggestions when the action wasn't clear_._Thank you for all the wonderful comments. **Andycake**: Actually, it's not farfetched to be able to get blood results that quickly. I used to have my blood drawn and would watch the machine count the platelets. It was fascinating, but I'm easily distracted and entertained. I'm putting it at 15 minutes or so between the blood draw and the results, in between time they shocked the poor baby twice and gave him Lidocaine. There's a wonderful site that gives step by step instructions, which is why that part, at least, is fairly realistic.(BTW, I'm replying to your comment because you raised a very valid point, for which I have an answer, I'm not responding angrily or defensively.)_

**Chapter Four **

A few hours later, after talking with Director Morrow, Kate went to see Gibbs. She found him dozing fitfully, waking up when he heard her heels on the tile floor.

"Come to visit the condemned?" he said, as he raised the head of the bed into a sitting position.

"I'm sorry, I left my cake and file at home." She replied.

Kate paused, trying to think of way to tell him what had happened. Deciding to just jump right in, she said, "We think we have strong evidence that you've been framed, Gibbs."

"Evidence? How? What?"

"Someone tried to kill Tony. He's the only one who can clear you."

Gibbs sat up straighter, "How is he? Is he okay?"

"Well, he's still in a coma, but he's alive. Ducky's keeping an eye on him. I have McGee doing a background check on medical personnel; the security tape for the floor is being sent to Abby, plus the IV bag that we suspect was spiked with potassium."

"I need to get out of here," Gibbs pulled on the cuff in frustration.

"No Gibbs," warned Kate, "They won't let you investigate, not in your state of mind. Besides, you're still too weak to do anything strenuous. The Director has allowed us to take over the investigation, along with Paula and Cassie, but he won't let you anywhere near it."

"Damn it! I need to do something!"

"You _can_ do something," Kate's voice rose over his, "Something very important."

"What?"

"You can stay with Tony, keep an eye on him, make sure no one gets to him. Keep him alive for us."

Gibbs stared intently at Kate for a moment. She returned his gaze with equal intensity. Finally he nodded.

He sank back into the pillow, "You're right, I would just get in the way right now, I wouldn't be of any use."

Kate shook her head, "You would, Gibbs. I know you'll do everything in your power to protect Tony. I never believed for a minute that you were the one who stabbed him. Now, if he had ended up in the hospital with a huge knot on the back of head..." Kate shrugged.

Gibbs smiled, the first one Kate had seen on his face in weeks, causing her to smile back at him warmly.

"We'll find out who's doing this to you and Tony, I promise."

"I know you will, Kate."

**_Back at NCIS_**

Paula Cassidy, Cassie Yates, Kate Todd and Tim McGee were gathered in the squad room, going over the files for the first Murphy case. The two temporary agents held no resentment toward Kate for taking over the case, they understood what this meant to her and the rest of the team. They were there to provide an objective view.

"There's got to be something we missed in the initial investigation." Muttered Kate, as she rifled through the photos taken at the crime scene.

McGee replied, "There was absolutely no evidence at the scene. Whoever did it knew exactly how to eliminate anything that might point to the killer.

Frowning, Kate looked at the picture of the late Roger Murphy. "Murphy didn't strike me as being the sharpest knife in the drawer." She winced as she realized what she was saying, and said to the others, "Sorry, bad choice of words."

McGee agreed, "He seemed to be your typical jock; concerned about his looks and eyeing the women." He paused, "Remind you of anyone?" he said softly.

The women smiled ruefully. Kate spoke first. "Tony, on his most narcissistic day, is ten times the man Murphy was."

"Oh?" The other three agents turned to her, eyebrows raised.

Clearing her throat, Kate changed the subject. "McGee, did you and Abby find anything on the security tape?"

McGee picked up a remote and pulled up a video on the plasma screen. "Here's what's on the tape We see you and Ducky wheel Gibbs into Tony's room."

Cassie interrupted, "Gibbs looks awful, how's he doing?"

"He's upset, obviously." sighed Kate. "He feels helpless, angry, anxious and very guilty about what he said to Tony."

McGee nodded, "Yeah, I bet. That was harsh, especially for someone like Tony."

Paula was curious, "Why 'someone like Tony'?"

"Tony practically worships Gibbs. He wants to please him, make him proud. Hell, I think he wants to _be_ Gibbs, except he doesn't have the discipline." explained Kate. "But he's an excellent agent, better, in some ways, than Gibbs."

"Better? How so?" asked Cassie.

"Tony is more flexible; he's better at disarming people, making them trust him or making think he's just a dumb jock." Kate looked meaningfully at McGee. "People underestimate Tony and end up giving themselves away. Gibbs is what he is, no one misunderstands him, they fear him and can shut down completely."

"Anyway, I asked Gibbs to keep an eye on Tony. It'll keep Gibbs involved and keep Tony safe."

McGee looked puzzled, "How's he going to do that?"

"He'll be able to spot anything unusual. Ducky will be with him, it'll be okay." She said in response to the skeptical looks.

"Who's that?" Paula's attention was drawn to the screen. McGee rewound the tape to the point where Kate and the others left the room and set it to play again.

He checked his notes, "That's Corporal Gina Livingston. She's been at the hospital for six months."

Cassie said, "I think Abby would say she looks hinky."

Kate agreed, "She does look pretty nervous. What else do you have on her?"

McGee checked his notes. "She appears to be pretty clean, not even a traffic ticket on her record."

The four watched the tape, seeing Corporal Livingston leave the room and walk quickly out of the camera's view. A few minutes later nurses were rushing into Tony's room.

Kate's phone rang just then, answering it she could hear music blaring before she got the receiver to her ear. "What have you got Abby?"

"I have partial prints from the IV tubing, not a complete set because there's not much of a surface, BUT I believe I have a match." Abby paused, savoring her good news.

"Corporal Gina Livingston." Kate smiled, knowing the reaction she was going to get.

"KATE!" whined Abby. "You're turning into Gibbs!"

"Sorry, Abby," laughed Kate, "I'll let you break any big news next time." Abby hung up in a huff.

"We have a positive ID." She told the others, "Let's bring her in."


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: In this story, Kate is alive. Essentially, it's pre-Twilight, since I accept the changes that have been made in the show… so far. Time will tell how I feel about the new characters. Many thanks to **Rinne**, for fixing the punctuation and giving me suggestions when the action wasn't clear_. _It appears I uploaded the wrong file for Chapter 4, so I'd like everyone to know that the punctuation errors are mine and not poor sweet Rinne's. I may go back and fix that later, if I can find the correct file._

**Chapter 5**

Ducky walked into Gibbs' room to find the patient sitting up, impatiently awaiting his arrival.

"You're late, Ducky," Gibbs practically growled.

"I'm no such thing, Jethro," replied the ME calmly. "You're just anxious to see Tony."

"Well, come on, let's get going."

The guard unlocked the handcuffs and soon Gibbs and Ducky were in Tony's room. The younger agent had improved a bit during the night and had been taken off the respirator. A nasal canula replaced the airway, and his complexion seemed to be less pale.

Gibbs rolled closer to the bed. "Who stayed with him overnight?"

"In addition to the guard outside the door, young Palmer volunteered to sit with him."

Gibbs turned to Ducky in surprise. "Palmer? I thought he was afraid of Tony."

Ducky chuckled, "Quite frankly, he's a bit intimidated by all of you, but he also admires you and he wanted to do his part to keep Tony safe. He's a good man, Jethro, very intelligent and very eager to learn more."

"And he enjoys your stories."

Ducky nodded. "A sign of his good taste."

Gibbs laughed softly, his eyes going to the unconscious man in the bed. His expression fell, causing Ducky to sigh.

"Anthony will pull through," soothed Ducky. "He's survived the critical hours and his condition is improving, slowly, but steadily."

"But will he forgive me for what I said?" worried Gibbs.

"If you apologize sincerely enough, and tell him how you really feel, as you did earlier, he will. He's not a vindictive man and he understands how involved you were in finding Petty Officer Murphy's killer."

"I _found_ her killer," Gibbs' eyes narrowed. "The jury just let him go."

Ducky shook his head. "Did you ever consider that you could be wrong?"

"I was not wrong, Ducky. I know he had something to do with his wife's death," replied Gibbs grimly.

"Ah, a 'gut' feeling."

"Yes."

"And your gut has never been wrong?"

"No."

"I see."

"Damn it Ducky, there's nothing I can do to prove it while I'm here." Gibbs was starting to get agitated.

Ducky decided not to pursue that line any longer. "When you're out of here, the sheriff's office wants you in their facility."

Gibbs scrubbed his hand over his face. He started to say something, but stopped when a nurse came in to check on Tony's vital signs. She looked over at the older agent, noting his injuries.

"Are you all right, Agent Gibbs?" she inquired. "Can I get you something for pain?"

Gibbs smiled weakly. "No, thank you."

She smiled and patted Tony's hand before leaving. "He's much better, he'll be awake before you know it."

"From your lips to God's ears," replied Ducky, fervently.

Gibbs said nothing, rolling his wheelchair closer to the side of the bed, and reaching out to take Tony's hand in his.

"Wake up, DiNozzo," he whispered. "I will not lose my best agent."

Ducky smiled sadly.

**Back at NCIS headquarters**

Kate and McGee had returned early the next morning, hoping they would be able to spot something with fresh eyes after a couple of hours of sleep. Paula and Cassie had gone to pick up Corporal Livingston, but had difficulty locating her. They finally brought her in mid-afternoon.

Working quietly, both Kate and McGee felt their frustration growing as they scoured the evidence for the umpteenth time. The hours passed, with no new information being discovered.

Someone coughed. "Excuse me, Agent Todd."

Kate looked up to see a tall, burly man standing in front of her desk, wearing a county officer's uniform and holding his hat.

"Deputy Robbins," said Kate, warily, "what can I do for you?"

Edward Robbins held up his hands placatingly. "I'm not here to cause trouble, I just wanted to see how your investigation was going, to see if I can offer my assistance."

McGee came around from his desk. "What kind of assistance? Your department is the one that wants to arrest Special Agent Gibbs and charge him with murder."

"The evidence is strong, Agent McGee," argued Robbins. "But you folks seem so positive that he didn't do it, I had to see if you had something to prove that he's innocent, or that he's right about Murphy's involvement in his wife's death."

Kate spoke coolly, "When Agent DiNozzo wakes up, we'll have an eyewitness to tell us what happened."

Robbins laughed. "Your own agent vouching for his boss? That's not really solid, is it?"

"If Tony couldn't prove what really happened, nobody would have tried to kill him," Kate replied, eyes narrowed.

Robbins looked surprised. "Someone tried to kill Agent DiNozzo?"

"Yes." McGee stood closer to the taller man.

Robbins looked down at McGee's determined face, laughed and shook his head. Putting on his hat, he started to walk away. "I was going to offer to help you, you know, in the spirit of cooperation, but I see you don't want my help."

"Thank you," Kate called out to his retreating back. "We can take care of our own."

Turning, Robbins called back, "That mean chasing smoke?"

With a smirk, he saluted and got into the elevator.

"I don't like him," said McGee.

"Me neither."


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: In this story, Kate is alive. Essentially, it's pre-Twilight, since I accept the changes that have been made in the show… so far. Time will tell how I feel about the new characters. Many thanks to **Rinne**, for fixing the punctuation and giving me suggestions when the action wasn't clear. Okay, I got bored, so I decided to post another chapter right away. We're almost to the end, kiddies, hang on to your hats!_

**Chapter 6**

Corporal Gina Livingston was a small woman, slightly overweight, with mousy brown hair. She sat in the interrogation room, nervously picking at her cuticles. They had left her in there for a few hours, to shake her up, although it looked like it wouldn't take much to do that. It was now early evening; Paula Cassidy waited a few more minutes before entering the room. Putting a pile of folders on the table, she opened one and started reading.

After a few minutes, Gina timidly spoke, "Why am I here?"

Paula looked up as if surprised the other woman was in the room with here, "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Gina cleared her throat nervously and repeated her question, "Why am I here?"

Paula sat back in her chair and smiled at the nervous woman. "You have no idea?"

"No, I…" stammered Gina. "I really don't."

"Well," leaning forward again, Paula looked through the papers in the folder, "you're being charged with the attempted murder of Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo."

Gina's already sallow complexion paled. "No," she whispered.

Turning around, Paula picked up a remote and pressed 'play'. "Isn't that you going into Agent DiNozzo's room?"

"Yes," the suspect's voice was barely audible.

"And here you are coming out." Paula let the tape play. "And now the other nurses are rushing in because Agent DiNozzo is starting to go into cardiac arrest."

"Somebody put a lethal amount of potassium in Agent DiNozzo's IV, Corporal Livingston, and yours were the only prints on the IV tubing."

Gina started shaking her head slowly, murmuring 'no' repeatedly under her breath.

"You're right there on the tape, Gina. No one else went into the room between the time Agent DiNozzo received his medication and the time his heart started failing." Paula's voice was hard.

"No… no… no…"

Slamming her hands on the table, Paula stood and leaned in toward the shaking woman. "Who paid you to kill a Federal Agent, Gina?" she yelled. "Who paid you to ignore your oath to help people and got you to inject a comatose man with a lethal dose of potassium?"

Corporal Livingston began rocking and crying. "No one paid me. No one."

"No one?" Paula cocked her head, inquiringly. "What? You just decided to put Agent DiNozzo out of his misery? Is that it? You thought he would never wake up so you decided to help him die?"

"NO," cried Gina, tearfully. "It wasn't like that!"

"What was it like, Gina? Why did you do it?"

"I had to do it, he made me do it." The woman was sobbing hysterically now. "He would have killed me, I know it, he's evil!"

"Who?" Paula leaned closer. "Who made you do it?"

Gina continued rocking and crying, shaking her head. "I can't tell you. He'll kill me, he's killed before."

Sitting down, Paula lowered her voice and tried to soothe the terrified woman. "We can protect you, Gina. We can get the killer and put him so far away you'll never have to be afraid again." As Gina continued to shake her head, Paula reached out and touched her arm gently. "Tell me who it is, and I promise, I'll keep you safe."

Gina looked up tearfully. "I didn't want to hurt Agent DiNozzo, I swear. I was so afraid, and I thought if I did this, then he wouldn't kill me and Agent DiNozzo would die peacefully. He wants him dead, he was so mad that he didn't die at the scene. He wouldn't have left him if he knew he would survive."

"Who, Gina? Why did he frame Agent Gibbs and try to kill Agent DiNozzo?"

"He wanted Gibbs to stop digging into the murder. He was afraid Gibbs would find out what really happened."

"What really happened, Gina?" Paula asked softly.

The nurse seemed to have given up. She spoke softly, but the observers in the other room were able to hear what she was saying.

"My brother went to Roger Murphy's gym all the time. The two of them got to be friends, and after awhile, they started to get real close. They had to keep it secret, though, so Roger started to fool around with some woman at the gym, so people would think he was having an affair."

"Your brother and Roger Murphy were having an affair?" Paula tried to keep the surprise out of her voice.

Gina nodded. "Roger's wife found out about it and confronted the two of them when they thought she was out of town. Junior strangled her; he's got a real short temper. Then he and Roger got rid of all the evidence."

She took a deep breath. "But Special Agent Gibbs wouldn't accept the jury's verdict, and kept digging. So Junior snuck into his basement and put something in a bottle of bourbon to knock Gibbs out. He waited until Gibbs came home and was in the basement for awhile, then he went in and carried him out and took him over to Roger's house."

Gina sobbed. "He killed Roger, he beat and stabbed him to death. Then he roughed up Gibbs' hands and face and put some of Roger's blood on his hands. I guess Agent DiNozzo was following, or suspected something, because he came in and he and Junior started fighting. Junior beat him unconscious then stabbed him. He put the knife in Gibbs' hand to get his prints on it, and put some of Agent DiNozzo's blood on Gibbs' hands too."

Paula looked skeptical. "How do you know all this, were you there?"

Gina shook her head. "Junior told me what happened, when he told me to put the potassium in the IV."

Still not quite believing the story, Paula continued, "There were no unidentifiable prints at either crime scene, Gina."

Gina nodded. "Junior's a cop. He knows what to cover up."

"Your brother's a cop? What's his name?"

"Edward Robbins, he's with the Sheriff's department. We've called him Junior since we were kids."

Kate looked at McGee in shock. "Oh my god."


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: In this story, Kate is alive. Essentially, it's pre-Twilight, since I accept the changes that have been made in the show… so far. Time will tell how I feel about the new characters. Many thanks to **Rinne**, for fixing the punctuation and giving me suggestions when the action wasn't clear_. _Yes, this is a really short one. I may take a break after this. :)_

**Chapter Seven**

Jimmy Palmer had once again volunteered to keep an eye out for any unusual medical activity around Tony DiNozzo. Unfortunately, he didn't know that Gibbs would be there, too, which was why Palmer was sitting, stiff as a board, on a chair in the corner of the room, trying not to attract the senior agent's attention.

Taking pity on the younger man, Gibbs turned to him and asked, "Palmer, does it look like Tony's getting stronger?"

Jimmy got up and walked over to the monitors. Clearing his throat he said, "Yes, Agent Gibbs. Agent DiNozzo's vital signs seem to be improving. His blood pressure is nearly normal, and his heart rate is a bit stronger as well."

Gibbs nodded. "He seems to be moving a little, too, shifting around."

"Coma patients will regain consciousness slowly, sir. So it's entirely possible that he's starting to move. He could also start reacting to voices. Patients who are agitated can be calmed by a familiar voice." Jimmy was gaining more confidence.

"I guess my voice would scare him," sighed Gibbs.

"Oh no, sir," exclaimed Jimmy, earnestly. "I'm sure Agent DiNozzo would be comforted to know you were near, looking after him. He thinks the world of you, sir."

"Don't call me, sir," growled Gibbs, softening the words with a smile. "I'm not an officer."

"I'm sorry, sir… I mean Agent Gibbs," stammered Jimmy.

"Relax, Palmer," Gibbs gave him smile. "I'm not going to bite you. I appreciate what you're doing for Tony."

"I'm happy to help, s.. Agent Gibbs."

Gibbs chuckled. He looked thoughtfully at the younger man. "How do you like working at NCIS, Palmer?"

Jimmy lit up. "Very much. It's very exciting work, going to the crime scenes. And working with Doctor Mallard is a pleasure. He has the most amazing stories. Doctor Mallard knows so much, he's seen so much and been to so many exotic places. I feel like I'm in school all over again."

Gibbs smiled at the young man's enthusiasm. "We're glad to have you, Jimmy. You're a good addition to the team."

Palmer practically glowed with pleasure. "Thank you, sir." Gibbs decided to let that 'sir' go by without comment. It was obvious that Jimmy had been taught to respect his elders and authority figures, it would take time to break him of that 'sir' habit. Maybe Gibbs could get him to start calling him 'Boss'.

The two spent the next few hours reading or talking to Tony, including him in on their conversations as if he were awake and talking. Shortly after midnight, Jimmy excused himself for a few minutes. He offered to pick up some coffee for Gibbs on his way back, which raised him a few notches in Gibbs' estimation.

Sitting quietly, Gibbs didn't notice someone enter the room. He looked up to see Deputy Robbins standing there, an enigmatic smile on his face.

"Hello Agent Gibbs," drawled the big man.

"Deputy Robbins." Gibbs nodded in acknowledgment. "What brings you here? I'm not cleared to leave the hospital yet, so you can't take me in."

Robbins laughed. "That'll come soon enough. I just came to see how your agent was doing. I heard there was some excitement yesterday."

"He's doing much better, thank you." Gibbs watched suspiciously, as Robbins closed the door behind him. He walked to the large window facing the nursing station and started drawing the curtains closed.

"May I ask what you're doing?"

Robbins smiled. "Just getting us a little privacy, Agent Gibbs."

Before Gibbs could react, the big man rushed over and pulled him out of the wheelchair, holding a beefy hand over his mouth.

"You just couldn't let well enough alone, could you, Gibbs?" snarled Robbins, holding his hand over Gibbs' mouth and nose. Gibbs struggled to free himself, but was still weak from his injuries.

"I'm just going to have to make sure Agent DiNozzo here has a fatal relapse. And you're going to have another accident trying to help him." Gibbs could feel himself starting to black out, Robbins' hot breath brushing his cheek.

"When this is all over, there'll be two dead agents in here," hissed Robbins, squeezing his arm around Gibbs' chest harder. Gibbs was aware of the painful cracking of his ribs and then everything went dark.


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: In this story, Kate is alive. Essentially, it's pre-Twilight, since I accept the changes that have been made in the show… so far. Time will tell how I feel about the new characters. Many thanks to **Rinne**, for fixing the punctuation and giving me suggestions when the action wasn't clear_.

**Chapter Eight**

"The Starbuck's kiosk in the lobby is open all night, so I got you some of their regular blend, Agent Gibbs." Jimmy pushed through the door with his shoulder, holding two large cups of steaming coffee. Seeing Gibbs lying on the floor unconscious, he stopped in his tracks. Then he noticed the big man by the bed, holding a pillow over Tony's face, the agent struggling feebly.

Robbins was surprised by the unexpected arrival and let go of the pillow, rushing toward the young man. In a move that would have made Gibbs proud, Palmer threw the two cups of coffee at the charging man's face, eliciting a scream of pain. But that wasn't enough to stop the officer, he continued charging and rammed into Jimmy, throwing him against the wall, knocking the wind out of the young man. Robbins then grabbed Jimmy by the front of his shirt and threw him through the drapes and the plate glass window, sending him flying into the corridor.

From down the hall, Kate, McGee, Paula and Cassie heard the crashing of broken glass and drew their guns, rushing into ICU toward Tony's room. They saw Palmer lying in the corridor, stunned. Cassie rushed over to check on him, while the others burst into Tony's room.

Gun drawn, Kate quickly scanned the room, seeing Gibbs lying on the floor, unconscious. Robbins had heard them coming and had gone back to the bed and pulled Tony out of it, ripping out his IV and the electrical leads monitoring his heart. He pulled the unconscious man in front of himself, one arm around Tony's chest, the other under his chin, with his hand firmly grasping Tony's head.

"Stay back, or I'll snap his neck!" he yelled. The agents froze, not wanting to aggravate the desperate man. Kate noted the blood running down Tony's arm from where the IV had been torn out. She was surprised to hear a low moan come from the unconscious man, and to see him move a bit.

"It's over, Deputy Robbins," she said calmly. "Put Agent DiNozzo down, you'll only add murder of a Federal Agent to your charges, and that'll guarantee you the death sentence."

"No," he yelled back. "I'm not going to prison. You know what they do to cops in prison?" He tightened his grip around Tony's chest, drqwing another moan and more weak struggling from the agent. Tony's eyes began to flutter open, as he responded to the painful stimulation.

Kate tried to reason with the man. "You won't get far dragging an unconscious 175 pound man around," she said matter-of-factly, lowering her weapon. "Put him down and we can make sure you're kept segregated from the other prisoners."

Robbins laughed harshly. "Oh yeah, that's going to be a great life; locked away by myself, or with other dirty cops for the rest of my life. No thank you, Agent Todd. Now get out of my way, and have the other two put their guns down. I'm going to take Agent DiNozzo out to the car, and we're going to get away from here."

Kate shook her head. "I can't let you take him," she said firmly. "I won't let you hurt my partner any further."

Robbins tightened his grip around Tony's neck. "I'll break his neck!" he threatened. Tony's eyes were blinking slowly, his gaze unfocused, his hands twitching weakly. Robbins edged around the bed, motioning to the agents with his head. "Move over against the wall," he yelled.

Slowly, the agents backed up to the wall, watching Robbins warily as he dragged Tony toward the door. Blood was dripping onto the floor from the open IV wound in Tony's arm. Robbins slipped slightly on the blood, causing him to loosen his hold, when he was suddenly tackled from behind as Cassie Yates dove through the broken window.

Kate and the others reacted immediately, running to the three and pulling Tony to safety. McGee and Paula helped Cassie subdue Robbins, while Kate applied pressure to the bleeding on Tony's arm. Security came rushing in from where they had been waiting in the corridor, and soon Robbins was cuffed.

Tony was put back into bed and the nurse was bandaging the bloody arm and reinserting a new IV. Gibbs had started to regain consciousness, and Kate insisted that the doctor look him over, despite his objections. Jimmy had been lucky that the drapes were closed; he wasn't cut by any of the broken glass and was just slightly concussed from his contact with the wall in the initial encounter with Robbins.

**Four days later**

The entire team, plus Cassie and Paula, was gathered in Tony's room. He had been moved to a regular room the day before, after he started to recover slowly from the coma. He was still sluggish and still had a little difficulty responding to what was being said to him, but he was aware and had some comprehension of what was going on around him. His injuries were healing nicely, the prognosis was for a complete recovery.

Gibbs had been cleared and was also looking much better. He had been released from the hospital and was on crutches. He sat in one of the room's better chairs, his leg propped up. Ducky was sitting in one of the other good chairs, and Jimmy was sitting in a third that McGee had dragged in from another room. They were very proud of the way Jimmy had acted throughout the whole situation, especially pleased with the way he had tried to fight the much larger, more experienced Robbins. The others were sitting on plastic chairs they had dragged in, except for Abby, who was perched on the side of Tony's bed.

Gibbs looked over at Tony, relief flooding him at the sight of the younger man's open and alert eyes. The bruising and swelling on his face had gone down and he had regained some color. There were no more tubes or wires attached to his body, he had been on a liquid diet for a day now and would soon graduate to soft food. He even had some of the mischievous glint back in his eyes.

Kate looked over at Gibbs and said, "So Gibbs, you were wrong _and_ you were right about the Murphy case." Her eyes twinkled.

Gibbs looked at her, scowling slightly. "Your point, Agent Todd?"

Kate shrugged. "I was just saying that you were wrong about Murphy actually murdering his wife, but right that he had something to do with it."

"And?" replied Gibbs, suspiciously.

Kate continued, unabashed, "And Tony was right about your being wrong about Murphy being the killer." Tony grinned and looked over at his boss.

Gibbs looked back at Tony. He nodded slowly and then smiled at the younger agent. "Yes, Tony was right about Murphy."

Tony's eyes widened and his grin got even wider. "Wow! Did anyone get that on tape?"

The others laughed; Abby said, "We're all witnesses, Tony, don't worry. Gibbs won't be able to deny he said that."

Gibbs put on a hurt expression. "I wouldn't deny I said that. Tony _was_ right. He has good instincts, he's one of the best agents I've ever worked with."

Tony's expression turned soft. "Really, Boss?"

Gibbs looked directly into Tony's eyes and said firmly, "Yes, Tony. I mean it. I apologized before, but you couldn't hear me. I don't tell you enough how much you mean to the team, and I'm sorry."

"I heard you, before," whispered Tony. "I just wasn't sure if I was dreaming or hallucinating."

"You weren't," assured Ducky. "I was there, I heard him say that."

"Me too," said Kate.

Gibbs looked around the room. "I've got a good team, there's not a weak link in the chain.".

There was silence for a moment, then Kate spoke.

"Ducky, do you think Gibbs was released too soon? He sounds like he's still a bit loopy from hitting his head when he fell."

Ducky said thoughtfully, "He could be having residual effects from the substance Robbins put in his bourbon. Perhaps he should undergo some tests."

"A CAT scan?" suggested Tony, helpfully.

McGee, Cassie and Paula hid their smiles as Gibbs glared at Kate, Ducky and Tony; then Abby's voice piped up.

"Anyone want to order a pizza?"

**_FIN _**

_A/N: I looked up coma recovery and found several sites. I may have taken some liberties, but it's not too far from the truth. I tried to cut the sappiness at the end, I hope I lessened it a bit **Thank you** for sticking with me and for all your kind comments.._


End file.
